


Cupcakes

by Baenase



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Art Student Nanase Haruka, Bakery and Coffee Shop, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, SouHaru, SouHaruWeek, Sousuke is a 12 year old girl with a silly crush, he just wants ssk to find a bf, rin is bully but in a good way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-02-28 01:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2713343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baenase/pseuds/Baenase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke has a crush and he's not so good at controlling it. Rin thinks it's funny though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is originally written for day 3, but I'm a day late! I started on this yesterday but then stuff got in the way, so I couldn't finished the rest. However, I managed to finish everything today, so I thought I'd post it immediately, even if I missed the deadline.
> 
> This is your typical souharu College AU featuring a lot of awkwardness. There will probably be a second part because Sousuke and Haru barely interact, haha.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a chilly December weather. The cold days quickly arrived and Sousuke still had to get used to the feeling of being packed in a warm jacket and a thick scarf around his neck every day. He just got out of the train and saw countless people passing him by, faces buried in scarfs. Some of them wearing large headphones, either to keep their ears warm or because they had a reason to ignore by-passers who came asking for money or asking their way through the city. Sousuke didn’t mind any of those, since he prefers being constantly aware of his environment and the people he’s interacting with. 

Before he headed out of the station he quickly went to the small bakery/café that was located right next to his platform. It was ideal because he could always grab a quick coffee there when he was in a hurry and needed a boost to get going.

Those who worked there already knew who he was a month after his college started. Sousuke developed quit a habit to grab a coffee occasionally and it wasn’t left unnoticed. Whenever he showed up again, some of the coworkers suggested if he’d come here for lunch with some friends after class whenever he wants to. Sousuke politely refused, saying he had to work on a few assignments and needed to get home as soon a possible, because he always forgets them there.

However, on one fortunate day before terms, he finally did bring his courses along and decided to study with Rin, who lived a few blocks away from the campus and a few streets from the station. So, for once, he decided to have lunch with Rin at café Freestyle.

He quickly noted it was a shame he didn’t try ordering anything but coffee before. His mouth already started watering as he stared at the delicious looking muffins, cakes and cookies behind the glass.

Behind the chocolate muffins sat a big plate filled with the most beautifully decorated cupcakes Sousuke has ever seen. The top was covered with blues, pinks and greens and some of them had chocolate dolphins on them. It looked pretty girly, but he did admire the person who decided to spend his/her time on making these.

“Good afternoon, can I help you?” Sousuke looked up and was met a pair of striking blue eyes he has never seen before.

“Uh… I’ll have that cupcake over there.” He pointed at the blue topped cupcake with a dark chocolate dolphin on top of it. He didn’t really think twice when he decided to order that one. It was decorated so carefully and would make a better piece at a food museum than it would at a small café in a crowded train station. Despite Sousuke’s immediate regret about his order, he saw the unfamiliar boy’s eyes lighten up. “Anything else?” He asked. This time less monotonous than before.

“Yeah, a large coffee and a bottle of water.”

The boy hurried to the coffee machine as he mumbled Sousuke’s order. Meanwhile Rin tapped his shoulder.

“Seriously. A  _dolphin_  cupcake is all you’re having?”

“Yeah, I’m not really hungry.”

“So you thought you’d spend 400 yen on a girly cupcake.” 

“Yeah…” Sousuke replied, bewildered. As Rin muffled his laughter in his scarf, the dark-haired boy arrived with his coffee, water and his cupcake, carefully placed in a tiny plastic box with Sousuke’s name on it and a number written underneath it in flashy green. 

“Thank you. Have a nice day.” The boy said when Sousuke got his change back. 

After Rin took his order and payed he followed Sousuke to a table next to the window, giving them a nice view of the queue that even extended outside. 

“So they already know your name even without asking, huh.” Rin scoffed as they sat down.

“Yeah, I grab a coffee here almost everyday, so they know my face pretty well.” Sousuke said, laughing at himself. 

“Do they always give you a phone number as well?”

“What?”

“There’s a phone number on your box.”

Taking a sip from his coffee, he stared at the front of the plastic box. At first Sousuke didn’t pay much attention to it because he thought it was an order number, but now he clearly saw from the grouping of the numbers that it was a phone number.

When he looked up he saw Rin grinning and immediately knew what his red-haired friend was thinking. He brought his face closer towards Sousuke and whispered: “Maybe it’s from the pretty boy who took your order.”

“Why? He didn’t look interested in me though.” He replied. Sousuke peeked behind Rin at the bar and noticed said male grabbing some cookies from the front and dropping them in a paper bag. Sousuke admitted that he had a nice figure and a cute face. Everything that would make Rin call him a ‘pretty boy’. Rin probably caught him staring because he suddenly started snaking his head in front of Sousuke’s view. His wore an expression that said: “Oh boy, you got it bad.”

“What’s up with you?” Sousuke snarled.

“Me? What about you? You look so… infatuated.” Rin said with a knowing sharp-toothed grin.

“I’m not infatuated. I was just observing him.”

“Suuuuuuuure.”

“Act normal, Rin.” 

Sousuke’s stomach suddenly demanded food so he finally opened the box and took the delicious looking dolphin cupcake, ignoring Rin who suddenly took the now empty box to stare at the phone number. He took a careful bite and suddenly all of his pent up regret from buying the cupcake went by in a flash.

“Oh my God, Rin. You have to taste this-…” Sousuke started, but when he looked past his food he noticed Rin typing something on his phone. The redhead’s eyes flashed from his phone to the number on the box. 

“Rin, stop it, Rin, oh fuck..” Sousuke should have seen it coming.  _He should have seen it coming._

After pressing the final button Rin dropped his phone in his pocket in a swift motion. His face showing an expression of odd bravery and satisfaction.

“Rin, don’t tell me… you texted him…” 

“Yup.” Is all he said.

“He’s never gonna reply.” Sousuke said, and hoped. But that was immediately proven wrong when Sousuke suddenly heard a mobile phone beep loudly across the café. His eyes flashed to the black haired boy behind the bar and yes, the noise came from his phone, carefully hidden inside the back pocket of his tight pants. From what Sousuke can tell the boy was definitely shocked to suddenly hear his own phone making a racket. He probably wasn’t allowed to have his phone with him to begin with. 

Rin and Sousuke stared as the male tried to check his phone unsuspiciously (but failing). The boy’s face turned bright red in an instant and hurriedly slipped his phone back in his pocket. He grabbed a cup and filled it with coffee, resuming to work, pretending like he never saw that text before, while it was obvious from the cute shade of red he has on his face.

Rin was really laughing now, burying his face his hands. “Oh my God, Sousuke, it’s his… It’s really his… Oh my God…”

“God dammit, Rin.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke returns to the café with his heart beating in a fast pace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter honestly! I've been hesitating about writing this chapter for months, clueless about what I was going to write about next, but it came out better than I expected!
> 
> I might seem a little rushed and stuff, sorry for spelling mistakes if there are any.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Hey Sousuke", came from the bed next to him. "Sorry about… that thing from Monday." Rin’s voice was muffled into a pillow. 

"Good." Sousuke replied, turning his head. After four days Rin finally came back to his senses, he thought. Sousuke didn’t expect this to get to his head, but he even laid awake at night, thinking about how much trouble the new blue-eyed coworker might be in. If not anything, the man still thought Sousuke was the one who sent him a dry ‘I like ur ass’ and embarrassed not only him, but Sousuke as well. He refused to even look Rin in the face that day. It’s surprising that he still agreed to spend the night at his studio today, given that he was still angry.

What was he supposed to do now anyway? For the last couple of days he went by a new regular coffee shop right across the station, trying to let time and distance heal whatever happened four days ago. Sometimes his eyes would flash through Freestyle’s windows, sometimes spotting the man’s jet-black hair, doing his usual job. Sousuke, somewhat, sighed in relief, glad he was still working. He  _seriously_  could have gotten in trouble because of that. 

As absurd as it sounds, Sousuke hoped he might forget if he just won’t show up for another week or two, so that perhaps the other male will forget his face from the moment he took his order. Heck, he might have even forgotten his face  _now_. They only looked each other in the eye for approximately two seconds that day. And after the message, he only had the occasion to only look at Sousuke’s broad back before he hurriedly left, tugging on Rin’s sleeve.

"Uh…" Rin started, slapping Sousuke awake right when he was about to lull asleep, "I thought that we might go back again to… you know… formally apologize to the guy, you see?"

And Sousuke was wide awake.

"I kinda had something different in mind." He admitted. "Like, not showing up until I’m sure he doesn’t remember my face anymore."

"So… you really don’t wanna hook up with him?"

"No." He said sternly. Sousuke did agree that he was pretty, but that was not the basic issue. Cute guys exist everywhere. You just have to keep your eyes open.

"And you really think he will forget you? You know he still has a reminder in his phone-…"

"Which he would probably have deleted by now."

"At least he knows you like his ass."

"Are you actually even sorry?"

Rin laughed. Not one bit, asshole.

* * *

 

But oddly enough, Rin’s jokes about the issue that night gave Sousuke enough confidence to enter the café the next day. At some point he knew it will be harder to return the longer he waited. So eventually, now he was right there at the station, waiting to get his train, he decided to say ‘fuck all’ and returned to the place to get his cup of coffee as usual. 

Nothing seemed different. Nobody stared him down, not even the blue-eyed man, something he did  _not_  hope for. He walked past the bar and his eyes darted to the food. The cupcakes were gone.

"Can I help you?" And once again Sousuke was met with those two sapphire eyes.

"Yeah, I’ll have an espresso, large."

"Anything else?" 

"Yeah, what’s your name?"

He blurted out the question just by reflex really. For days he had been thinking about a beautiful stranger whose number Rin possesses. The man’s eyes widened and the old lady next to him in line turned her head to him in surprise. The man in question didn’t say anything, but instead turned his torso around to reveal his blue shiny batch named ‘Haruka’.

"Oh, didn’t see that… well, I just wanted to say s-"

"Ask me later, there are people waiting behind you. Please pay off at the cash register." Haruka said with a voice as velvety and as unperturbed as before. 

"Uh… ok." Sousuke said with a second delay, faced by his abruptness. His heartbeat dropped considerably when Haruka moved his eyes from Sousuke and walked up to the old lady. So Haruka takes his job seriously it seems. And he’s honest and to the point. Always a bonus. 

When he payed his coffee to a flame-haired colleague he already knew, whose name is ‘Seijuuro’ he noticed now, he went to sit at a small table at the corner of the bar. It being the second time he decided to stay at this place. His train is in half an hour anyway, so he can wait.

Ten minutes passed while Sousuke finished his coffee and played some games on his phone, every so often replying to Rin’s messages. Another five minutes passed and he thought that it was best he’ll just formally apologize to Haruka tomorrow, if he wishes to accept. Right when he put away his phone in his pocket he looked up and saw said man pulling out a chair across his. He sat down cautiously, as though he wanted to keep watch on Sousuke. Can’t really blame him, honestly.

"I’m on break now." Was the only thing Haruka said when he saw Sousuke’s face. His expression lacking every sort of emotion.

"That’s great, so yeah…" Sousuke swallowed, "Basically I just wanted to say that, uh, I’m sorry about what happened a couple of days ago, you know, with the text… Also, I didn’t text you but it was my friend, Rin, he wanted to pull a prank on me and I sorta freaked out… but I bet you did too-…"

"Don’t worry about it." He said in his light monotonous voice. "I wasn’t supposed to carry my phone in the first place." He turned his head away, blushing lightly. Being able to look at him longer and closer now, not barricaded by a large counter, Sousuke noticed more pieces of Haruka’s features that really appealed to him. His pale skin, his narrow face with soft cheeks that seemed easy to stroke with the back of his hand, and small pink lips that were now formed into an adorable pout. He had a long small neck that only made him look more graceful.

In short, Haruka was captivating. And Sousuke had a hard time controlling his heartbeat.

"Why did you put your number on the box anyway?" Sousuke asked curiously.

The raven’s blush grew ever redder and Sousuke couldn’t help but chuckle.

"It was a bet… I lost." Haruka started.

"Really, what was the bet?"

"If someone would buy the dolphin cupcake, my number had to be written down on the box. It was all meant as a dumb joke, until you actually went ahead and bought it."

Now it was Sousuke’s turn to blush. “Oh, I see.”

"I thought nobody would buy them, you see." Haruka continued. "I, uh, made them myself and the owner of this place thought that they would make a succes if I sold them, that’s basically how they hired me. I still couldn’t believe it, so Seijuuro made a bet with me."

Sousuke’s mouth dropped. “Wait a second,  _you_ made these cupcakes?”

Haruka nodded shyly, eyes directed at the beer placemats.

"Haruka, they might have costed over 400 yen, but it was absolutely worth it. It tasted great."

"T-thanks, but not really." God, he was adorable when embarrassed. "Also, Haru is fine."

"Sure, Haru it is then. How long is your break?"

"Another ten minutes."

"My train is in ten minutes. So, I don’t know, let’s chat a bit, if you want."

A little smile appeared on Haru’s face. “Sure.” He replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm so sorry it took me so ridiculously long to update. But personal life and schoolwork are taking over my life as I speak, so yeah, I had to take a break from writing long fics for a while.
> 
> I'll do my best to update faster in the future.

A week has passed, and in the meantime Sousuke has asked Rin to give him Haru’s number. 

 It took him quite a while to send him a decent text. He sat there staring at the blank space on his phone under Haru’s number breaking his head about something so casual as sending him a goddamn text, like a 10 year old who has no idea how to talk to his first crush.

 Speaking of. He had to admit. If this wasn’t a crush, Sousuke probably wouldn’t go crazy thinking about something as trivial as a simple text message. And it clearly wasn’t left unnoticed by Rin either. At first he was just joking around, but now his friend has been giving him looks that clearly indicated that he knew. 

 “Do I have to send it for you?”

“No, goddamit.” Sousuke swore he never meant sound rude, but the longer he waited the more he was frustrating him.

“Sousuke, you may look tough, but you’re actually a 12 year old girl.”

“Please, just, let me be.”

“As you wish.” He snickered.

 

**_Hey! It’s Sousuke here. I grabbed your number from Rin. I forced him to delete it to prevent any more misunderstandings, haha._ **

 

He decided, finally. This was going to be his message. He pressed ‘send’ and the text disappeared. 

 He waited until morning. He checked during his classes. He checked again on his way back to his dorm. He checked again during dinner, until he heard his phone chime on his night stand in bed. As fast as lightning he grabbed it and looked at the message.

 

**_Rin Matsuoka: Got anything from him yet?_ **

 

Frowning, Sousuke texted back. 

 

**Sousuke: No.**

 

**_Rin Matsuoka: Too bad. Tell me when he responds._ **

 

While Sousuke was in the middle of writing ‘I don’t think so’ his phone vibrated in his hand and saw a message appear on the top of the screen.

 

**Haruka: Hi**

 

Sousuke’s stomach dropped. How long did it exactly take him to send him that message?  Sousuke knew Rin responds immediately so he texted his friend first.

 

**Sousuke: He said hi. HI.**

**Rin: Well, at least he’s not ignoring you.**

 

Sousuke peered at the crying-with-laughter emoji behind Rin’s text and placed down his phone flat with the screen upside down for a while. Now he should think about what he should text back. He waited a few seconds, closing his eyes while he tried to control his heartbeat. Then he retrieved his phone again. He pressed on Haruka’s name. The little grey bubble that said ‘hi’ looked dull and clearly uninterested. Or perhaps he should be grateful that Haru actually replied to him, like Rin suggested.

 

**Sousuke: It took you quite a while..**

 

…He backspaced the whole thing angrily. That just sounds stalker-ish. 

 

**Sousuke: hey**

 

_send._ just right. Maybe he should text Haru more often so the nerves will subside after a while and it will become a daily thing.

 

5 minutes later a response came.

 

**Haruka: I’m going to sleep. Good night.**

 

_Okay. That’s just freaking adorable_. In an instant, Sousuke immediately banned the thought from his head. What if he just made up an excuse not to talk to him? He checked the hour and noticed it was 11:30 PM. _Okay, I guess he might be going to bed now._

 

**Sousuke: Okay. Good night.**

 

He lay down he phone and didn’t even bother placing it back on his night stand. Ugh, he really wanted to see him again. _Why am I like this,_ he thought to himself. _I really am like a 12-year old girl._

 

* * *

 

 

When he saw him at the shop again two days later he couldn’t hold down his smile. There weren’t so many people waiting in line and Haru looked like he had time on his hands. So he figured he should just wave at him and smile when they make eye contact. And in fact, when he saw Haru turn to him, his smile was as broad as ever and he gave him a short and steady wave. Haru looked surprised for a second but then he gave a soft smile back. That moment Sousuke thought his chest was about to explode. 

 ‘I haven’t seen you last week! How is everything?”

 “Pretty okay. I was busy for college last week, so I took a break.”

“Oh, okay. What’s your major?”

“Art.”

“Oh, wait, don’t you have classes…?”

“You wanna order anything?” A older woman interrupted across the desk.

“Uh… yeah, I’ll have a strong coffee and… that red cupcake over there.” Because he just noticed the cupcakes were back, this time in more shapes and colors. Some of them have butterflies and sharks on top of them. While the woman grabbed his order, he turned to Haru to check if he was looking. He was busy serving someone else but he didn’t miss the slight blink directed towards him. The woman came back with his order and suddenly she beckoned him to move towards her.

 “He’s off at 1 o’clock. Run after him while you can, prince Charming.” She said quietly into his ear. Soft enough so that the other clients wouldn’t hear it. Sousuke was so caught off guard by that comment that he almost forgot to pay off at the register.  He gave another wave at Haru when he left, deliberately holding the red shark cupcake in his hand to show him what he brought. He left the shop feeling ecstatic after he spotted Haru covering his face with his hands to conceal his laughter.

 

* * *

 

He had class until 1, so he asked the professor if he could leave a little bit earlier. Claiming he had an appointment with someone important.

 “Sousuke, you determined little shit.” Came from Rin, who overheard everything.

 “Always gotta be determined to get what you want.” He grinned. “I brought you something by the way.”

He showed him the plastic box with the red shark cupcake presented inside.

 “Oh my god, Sousuke… you didn’t have to…”

“It’s fine. You texted me that you didn’t have breakfast yet, right?”

“He’s been a good influence on you, hasn’t he?”

Sousuke wanted to say ‘no’ but he broke in laughter midway. Rin laughed along.

 Leaving the building 15 minutes earlier than normal, he headed for the nearest train and headed straight to the station. The only thing on his mind on the way to the shop was Haru, he really just wanted to have an extended chat with Haru, surprise him, ask him if he has time, and if not, plan another time to meet up. He was pretty sure Haru liked him. Otherwise he wouldn’t have acted like the way he did this morning. He was at the shop exactly at 1, but he didn’t see Haru yet. So he waited behind the entrance and pretend like he just happened to pass by when he sees Haru walk out.

 A few minutes passed by and he saw him walk out looking pretty content. Sousuke wanted to walk to him, tap him carefully from behind. But Haru’s eyes locked with someone across the lane that wasn’t Sousuke’s. 

“Haru..” The taller, brown-haired male said, amazed.

 “…Makoto!” Haru exlaimed and without any warning he ran up to the much taller man away from Sousuke and pulled him into a powerful embrace. The height difference between the two was big enough for Haru to stand up on his toes a little bit. The unknown guy carefully placed his hands behind Haru’s back, with his chin on top of his head. At that moment everything came crashing down and a monster inside Sousuke he didn’t know was present started growling and pouncing like it has just gone crazy.

 

He couldn’t watch at it any longer, so after a split second, he turned his back and walked away. He needed the fastest train to his dorm as soon as he can, and forget everything he saw.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, Sousuke. You don't deserve this shit.
> 
> Stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

Sousuke closed his dorm room much more forcefully than intended, earning a screech from the girl next door, who also happened to have just returned from the dry cleaner, judging by the basket she dropped by accident. 

Who the _heck_ was that guy?  It never occurred to him Haru might already have a partner. A male partner in fact. So there is more or less the confirmation that he’s not straight. The only plus point of the whole thing he just witnessed.  If he’s lucky all of this might be a misunderstanding.

He grabbed his phone and pressed on Haru’s name.

**_Sousuke: Hi, so I happened to have passed by the shop when you left and I saw you with h-_ **

What the hell is he doing? Whatever is going in Haru’s personal life is none of Sousuke’s business! What makes Haru’s entitled to tell him everything about himself now that Sousuke has developed a silly little crush? Whenever the word ‘crush’ or ‘in love’ pops up in his head he feels insanely stupid for assuming so. Originally Sousuke wasn’t the type to fall head first before a stranger at a shop, even if he is damn good-looking. Yet here he was, cringing about the idea of him possibly being in a relationship with someone else. He was jealous, and he felt ridiculous for feeling this way.

He deleted his draft to Haruka and opened Rin’s number instead.

**_Sousuke: I think he has a boyfriend. Shit._ **

He deliberately added ‘I think’. Sousuke didn’t particularly mind sending Rin about all what happened. since they’ve been friends long enough he didn’t feel like hiding anything from him because sooner or later Rin will figure him out through concerned stares anyway. 

**_Rin: How come?_ **

**_Sousuke: Once I saw him leave he starting hugging another guy that stood outside the shop as well._ **

**_Rin: So what? It’s just a hug…_ **

**_Sousuke: It wasn’t just a hug! They were embracing each other for a really long time. I ran away as soon as I could._ **

**_Rin: That’s tough, man. Maybe it’s not what you think it is?_ **

**_Sousuke: I hope so._ **

It feels odd, putting Rin into the position of his love-guru. Normally he’d be the one to screw up all of his dates. This probably indicated Rin knew Sousuke was taking this very seriously. He really hoped all of this isn’t true. But at the same time he though he’s behaving selfishly. No matter how much he’s taking a liking to Haruka, he’s still someone he’s just met. He has his own personal life to worry about so he’s in no position to hide his other relationships from Sousuke.

Maybe he should just ask, just in case?

After pondering about it for a few hours after he’s done his work for college he tapped on Haru’s number and started a new text.

**Sousuke: Hey, how are you?**

Another 5 or 6 minutes passed.  
****

**_Haruka: Okay. You?_ **

**_Sousuke: I’m good. I was thinking that we should meet up. Having short chats while you’re working is rather difficult. What do you think?_ **

**_Haruka: You mean you want to go on a date?_ **

That message appeared faster than Sousuke anticipated, and it was the longest sentence Haru has ever sent him. He felt his face turn beat-red. _No that’s not what I meant I’d like to get to know you I know it sounds stupid but-…_

**_Sousuke: Yeah. I mean if you’re okay with it._ **

A time presumably longer than 5 minutes passed and Sousuke was face-palming himself. Of course he’s going to say no.

**_Haruka: Sure._ **

Dumbfounded he stared at Haru’s response. Okay, eventually his day didn’t end up being so terrible after all. For a minute he strolled around the room rubbing his hands over his face and hair, smiling, desperately finding a way to contain his happiness so he doesn’t accidentally scream it out. Sousuke suddenly images the girl next door, who’s name he doesn’t remember, squealing for the second time that evening because of Sousuke’s outbursts. Feeling extra happy and fuzzy he sat down again and held his phone up. He has a date. A fucking date with Haru. _He has a date with this beautiful individual with the bluest eyes who descended from the goddamn sky-._

**Sousuke: That’s great! How about tomorrow, after your shift?**

**Haruka: Okay. I’m off at 3. See you then.**

**Sousuke: See you tomorrow!**

So he guesses Haru wouldn’t really have a boyfriend then? Considering it’s fine for him to go on dates with people he just met? Sousuke was surprised by how (fairly) coherently he was questioning himself, given that he just _asked Haruka on a date and he said yes, he said yes oh my God_.

He should tell Rin.

**Sousuke: I got a date.**

**Rin: About freakin’ time.**

 

 

* * *

 

 

3 PM might be a pretty early to call it a date, but he supposes the earlier they meet up the longer they can hang out? Feeling more cheerful than he had in years Sousuke left the campus. Rin walked with him to the train stop and once there he wished Sousuke good luck, gave him a fast fist bump and eventually departed with a last wink in his direction.

Haruka was already waiting for him, leaning towards the backside of a bench outside the building entrance.

Aside that terrible moment where he attempted to surprise Haru last time, only for him to fall into someone else’s arms, Sousuke actually noticed the way Haru’s dressed when he’s no longer wearing the pastel blue apron that trademarked the Freestyle bakery. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie that seemed a bit too big for him, broad sleeves pulled up to expose pale slender forearms, accompanied with black skinny jeans that complemented his hair and sat _way_ too tight for his own good. Sousuke’s eyes lingered to Haru’s legs for a second before he raked them up to meet ocean blue eyes. Seriously, Sousuke will never get used to their vast color. They’re like expensive gems that could be exposed in a museum behind bulletproof glass.

“Hey.” Sousuke said softly. Eyes not leaving Haru’s face. 

“Hi.” Came the reply. He smiled. Oh my God.

“So….” Sousuke didn’t know where to start. He didn’t particularly revised the lines he was going to say. Improvising through a date was how he usually handled it, and Haru didn’t strike him as the planned/organised type either. But right now Sousuke is getting really nervous and regretted not preparing any lines the night before going to sleep.

“Have you already eaten or? I was thinking that we could grab a late lunch, if you like.” 

_Fair enough._

“I’ve had some mackerel at 12. But I’m feeling pretty hungry already.”

“So I take that as a yes?”

Haru stared at him again with those insanely, impossibly blue eyes. Then he batted them to the side, presumably not sure whether or not he should eat already.

“…Yeah.” He concluded. 

“Alright… got anywhere you’d like to go?” 

Haru shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t really go out here much.” 

Sousuke decided this was going to be tougher than he anticipated. The first time he had a chat with Haru during his break Haru seemed to be feeling a lot more comfortable talking about himself, about his patisserie skills and his own cooking at home, which was apparently nothing but mackerel dishes. (Yes, he remembered) 

“I do know a nice place down the street. I go there with my best friend once in a while. I hope you're okay with Italian food.”

“Italian's okay. And  you mean the best friend who complemented my ass?” 

Sousuke sputtered. “Y-yes. Listen, sorry, Rin is just-..” 

“Don’t worry about it. It really doesn’t matter.”

“Okay.” He was glad that’s settled then. But seriously though, Sousuke still felt embarrassed about it. He beckoned Haru to follow him to the restaurant, which was a fairly long walk down the long avenue they're at.

“You didn’t get into trouble or anything after that?” Haru seemed genuinely surprised Sousuke went on about the topic. He sighed.

“Seijuuro isn’t usually so strict about carrying phones during work. But he does prefer it when I only use it during breaks.”

“And you carry it around anyway?” He questioned. Haru's gaze shifted to the other side. Trying to ignore Sousuke's occasional glances.

“No… I was waiting for someone to text me.”

“Oh… someone important?” Sousuke's heart started to jump involuntarily. This better not be-...

“He’s my best friend. I haven’t seen him in months. So I got excited when he said he landed in Osaka after studying abroad. " 

Sousuke suddenly understood who the guy was Haru hugged so intensely. The relief that Sousuke felt was suddenly overwhelming, but he contained it just in time. 

He personally wouldn’t hug Rin if he and Rin were separated for such a long time. They’d probably perform their insane handshake they’ve practiced for weeks as 12 year olds and get an indifferent leg kick on top. But of course, he wouldn’t know how different his friendship with Rin was of that of Haru and his best friend. Suddenly the image of Haru popped up, expectingly waiting for his long anticipated text and receiving a random“I like ur ass” from an unknown number instead. The idea was comical, but he also felt a bit guilty about it. Sousuke accidentally let out a laugh. Making Haru look up to him questioningly.

“It’s just… you got a whole different text instead, back then.” Sousuke mused.

Haru smiled. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello.
> 
> It's me.
> 
> Where the fuck have I been? 
> 
> I WAS REALLY BUSY AND I'M SO SORRY THERE ARE JUST SO MANY THINGS GOING ON, NEW FANDOMS, NEW COLLEGE PROBLEMS. But at least I didn't wait half a year for my next update, right? I started this chapter exactly a day after the last update and finished it only today, so I'm terribly sorry for the long wait! I promise I'll update sooner next time.
> 
> Anyway, I really hope I'm not making both Haru or Sousuke too OOC. It's hard to imagine how a lovestruck Sousuke would act... would he turn into a gentle giant who sins in the deepest depth of his thoughts, or would he just be one big mental fuck up? I decided for a mix between the two.
> 
> I don't want to make Haru too much of an asshole in this AU. Just some quiet kid with his own feelings... I wanted to make him a bit more honest too.
> 
> How will the rest of their date go? STAY TUNED (and hopefully not for long)
> 
> See ya!

**Author's Note:**

> scream about souharu with me on: 
> 
> mackervel.tumblr.com  
> twitter.com/mackervel


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